Kidnapped in Dunvegan

5

"Ms. Sands, dinner is ready." I looked up from my work not happy at the disturbance and turned towards Alfred who was standing behind me and was looking nosily over my shoulder. His face was motionless which didn't surprise me as I hadn't made much progress towards restoring the painting, but it wasn't something I could do that quickly. It would take several days until the painting was back to how it was before.

"Can I not eat something later?" Once I'm immersed in my work, I don't like having to interrupt it.

"No, Mr. MacLeod would like to have dinner with you. He is waiting for you in the dining room."

I pursed my lips disapprovingly. If he really believed that I was only here so that we would become a couple, why wasn't he avoiding contact with me and limiting our meetings to just business? I would prefer that at least. If it was possible, I wanted to stay away from Adam for as long as my body didn't understand what my head already knew and it still definitely didn't understand because the mere prospect of seeing him again gave me butterflies out of shear anticipation.

I really didn't want to eat with him, let alone be in his overwhelming presence. However, it was impolite to say no, so I had to give in. After all, I was a guest in this house.

The dining room was smaller than I remembered from my guided tour in the morning, but that was not because it had since shrunk. Instead, it was Adam's presence that made it appear narrower than it actually was.

We sat at opposite ends of the table from each other. The six chairs to the left and right were empty. Alfred served us herb potatoes with roast lamb and buttered vegetables while we sat staring at each other in silence. I felt uneasy and therefore fidgeted around nervously on my chair and turned the red wine glass on its stem with my fingers. Adam really appeared to be looking daggers at me. I bit my lower lip feeling somewhat ill-at-ease and grimaced. I looked towards the glass window which led out to a terrace. The sun was about to go under and immersed the small pond in the center of the garden in a flaming red color.

When I turned to my food, I reluctantly noticed that Adam was still staring at me. I forced myself to concentrate on my roast lamb. Even if I was really hungry, it was impossible for me not to notice that Adam was paying all his attention to me.

Perhaps I should make it clear to him that he has nothing to fear with me. I looked up and looked right into his eyes. Even if I didn't feel it, I wanted to come across as self-confident to him. "I just wanted to stand by the fact that you have nothing to worry about. I do not intend to tame or control you or whatever you men like to call it. Even if the professor had had such plans, I'm only here to do my work. I don't have a very high opinion of men like you anyway."

I have to admit that did sound a little cocky, but I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I just didn't want our relationship to be influenced by what Adam's father had supposedly intended to achieve. Otherwise, the next few weeks would be unbearable for me. I wasn't able to deal with it very well when the people around me hated me. That just made me feel even more insecure and then I wasn't able to work properly.

"Men like me?", he asked and an intrigued expression appeared on his face.

I swallowed nervously. "Men that see women as playthings."

"Aren't you though? Didn't God create you as our playthings? You do have certain physical attributes which men can have lots of fun with."

"That probably means that God also created you as playthings. We are also able to have fun with you. He also must have created you as a workhorse for women as you are much stronger and more resilient." I said and I wasn't able to suppress the hoarseness that his sexual innuendo triggered in me.